MOSCOW — Russia said on Sunday (Sept 8) its forces had taken full control of a town in eastern Ukraine as Moscow's forces advance on the strategically important city of Pokrovsk and seek to pierce the Ukrainian defencive front lines.

Russian forces, which control about a fifth of Ukraine since invading in February 2022, are advancing in eastern Ukraine in an attempt to take the whole of the Donbas, which is about half the size of the US state of Ohio.

Russia's defence ministry said its forces had taken the town of Novohrodivka, which lies 12 km from Pokrovsk, an important rail and road hub for Ukrainian forces in the area. The town had a population of 14,000 before the war.

Yuri Podolyaka, an influential Ukrainian-born, pro-Russian military blogger, published maps showing Russian forces attacking beyond Novohrodivka in at least two places less than 7 km from Pokrovsk.

The General Staff of the Ukrainian military, in a report issued on Sunday evening, gave details of fighting throughout the Pokrovsk sector, including Novohrodivka.

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